Coming Up Roses

Good morning, my friends. We had an easy-going day yesterday. I did three loads of wash...wash loads are small in our washer/dryer combo, and so three loads are required to do the work of two. Aside from that, we got out for a walk around the park, and then sat and relaxed for most of the day. 

First thing, I spent a little extra time on my slow-stitching. I'd missed a couple of days, and so I wanted to stitch a little longer. That allowed me to finish the second embroidered section for Block 10 of the Raggedy & Friends project.

Here are the two sections for Block 10.

Finishing those two sections was my goal for January's 

So, I'll link up there when the party starts at the end of the month.

From here, I had to decide whether to continue on with the Raggedy & Friends or whether to start something different. There are two blocks left to finish off all the embroidery (four embroidered sections), and so I decided to continue on. I started this project when we left on our trip to Alaska. If I can finish all the embroidery on this trip, I'll be able to finish off the quilt top when we get home.

Okay, so with that decided, here are the two sections I'll need to stitch for Block 11.

And since it's impossible to see anything there, here's the image from the pattern. I'll start with the lower one.

So we had breakfast, and then got ourselves around. We planned to get out for a walk. We left Sadie basking in the sunshine.

Smitty is more careful about his tender skin. You don't want to get skin cancer, you know. He decided to camp out under where we hung the bird feeders, although no birds have visited the feeders as far as we can tell. One can hope though, and Smitty is an optimistic guy.

Before we leave for our walk, though, I remembered this photo from the wineries the day before. It missed the boat when I posted my pictures yesterday. This is bougainvillea. It's just one of many plants I wish we could grow in the Pacific Northwest.

So, okay...off we go. Remember I told you some folks who live here have some nice potted gardens around their rigs. This one had a couple of good looking bell peppers.

At another site, we found this waist-high lemon tree with at least two lemons on it. I'm guessing the cactus there is to discourage any visitors to the midnight market.

Moving on, we found this blooming jade plant. I don't think I've ever seen a jade plant with flowers. I didn't even know they bloomed.

Along our way, we passed this aloe plant budding out and ready to bloom. This one seems to get shade most of the day.

Walking on, we found a few blooming to beat the band. These get full sun all day long.

Here's how the whole plant looks.

We walked all the way out and past the gated entrance to find these pretty blooming roses. They were very fragrant.

Our neighbor has this interesting plant. My phone tells me this is Kalanchoe. It's common name is "Mother of Millions." It's a succulent native to Madagascar.

This is an Organ Pipe Cactus. We have a whole national monument in Arizona dedicated to the Organ Pipe Cactus.

We didn't see our friends the Great Egret or the Great Blue Heron, but we saw the cormorants again. The two on the left are the double-breasted cormorants. The one on the right is a black cormorant.

There are speed bumps throughout the park...annoying when we're driving in and out.

Of course our shadow selves had to bump up against one another to demonstrate how this "bump" business works. Yeah...they're hilarious...not.

Today we're planning an early lunch at a restaurant near the Oceanside Harbor that we like. Afterward we'll get out and take a walk on the Oceanside Pier, which is one of our favorite destinations when we're in the area. Since our last visit, there was a fire on the pier, and the restaurant at the end has not yet been rebuilt. We're not sure what we'll find there, but I guess the mystery will reveal itself soon enough.

Smitty was the picture of contentment yesterday evening. Kitty treats and a comfy quilt are all he needs.